


Spellbound Heart

by JoleneTheMoon



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fate Hits You Like A Truck, Multi, rare pairs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-04-23 01:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14321070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoleneTheMoon/pseuds/JoleneTheMoon
Summary: Have you ever wondered who your “perfect” match is?The Naruto folks have and the universe has answered this call.Just maybe not in the most expected of ways...*Marked as complete but other pairs/chapters may be added over time*





	1. In Sickness and in Health

**Author's Note:**

> I’ll be using this work to explore various soulmate concepts and tropes within the universe of Naruto.
> 
> Expect semi-rare pairings, non-canon storylines, and changing writing styles. The chapters may or may not build off of each other.
> 
> Tags will be updated as more characters' stories are added.
> 
> *Main Title comes from a poem by Rabindranath Tagore.
> 
> ~~~~~
> 
> First up is the 'injuries received on one member of the soul partnership are reflected on the other.'

 

Believe it or not, Hinata had not started life out as a mummy.

She used to wear cute sundresses and tank-tops and shorts just like all the other little girls.

But then the ligature marks had appeared. On her wrists, ankles, and the especially vivid one encircling her neck.

Her father was outraged. Her mother horrified. Her little sister Hanabi had just poked at the bright purple markings and giggled. Then again, she was only three and didn’t yet realize what they meant.

Six years old Hinata was not so unknowing. Somewhere in the world, her soulmate had been hurt. Hurt badly enough to scar.

Her mother covered the markings with sparkly bracelets and a shiny scarf to distract others, but Hinata never forgot what lay beneath.

She was fixated on the marks. Constantly checking them to make sure the purple was still there, that they hadn’t faded to white yet. That her soulmate was still alive and waiting for her.

Her parents started to whisper behind Hinata more and more. What had happened to her soulmate? Why were the markings still so bright and new looking?

And then Hinata experienced another marking. By this time, she was nine and well into her years at the ninja academy. She felt the heat of the mark settling in but couldn’t check it due to the taijutsu lesson underway.

Anxious and on edge, she bounced and fussed until the teacher just told her to go to the restroom for sage’s sake Hinata.

This time the mark was on her chest. Right over her heart. And it was still that same bright amethyst-like hue. Why wasn’t this one white? Why weren’t **any** of her markings white?

After that, the marks seemed to appear constantly. Hinata became so inured to the feeling of the marks burning in, that she didn’t even react anymore beyond a sigh and a mental note to check herself in a mirror later and see what this one was.

And always, the mark over her heart got just a little bit bigger, a little bit darker.

Her outfit continued to evolve. As her fellow kunoichi comrades’ clothing seemed to get smaller and less covering, Hinata’s did the opposite.

She began wearing full-length pants, bandaged at the ankles to prevent any movement (there were slashes and circular purple marks all over her legs).

Ninja sandals and socks (one of her toes looked like it had been gnawed off and the violet teeth marks were particularly creepy to look down at).

Hinata’s neck was no longer covered by scarves but by a high collared white coat with a black turtleneck beneath (so far, it was still just the original rope burn).

The latest addition had been for fingerless gloves (having crucifixion-like marks appear in the center of her palms and feet the summer following her chuunin exam meant no more bare hands for Hinata).

Her parents were just grateful her face had been spared so far. She was much too pretty to keep covered up. After all, she was still the clan heir and needed to be displayed every once in a while.

And then that too was a thing of the past.

Hinata almost invested in a mask like Hatake’s but Sakura gently pulled her aside at the store.

“It’s actually really pretty Hinata. And your soulmate must be very strong to have survived so much. You should show this one off with pride, ne?”

Hinata’s smile was split perfectly down the middle by her newest purple mark. It stretched from the inside-corner of her left eye, down her nose, through her lips, and to the tip of her chin.

Hinata was starting to seriously wonder what kind of condition her soulmate would be in when they met. If they even **survived** to meet.

Well, at least her soulmate would be extremely recognizable, right?

And then Hinata was a twenty year old jounin and attending yet another marriage of the ‘Konoha 12’. As she watched Naruto approach his soulmate to be sealed together, she wondered if she’d ever have the same thing.

Then war came and Hinata didn’t have time to ponder soulmates.

Elder Shimura Danzo had plotted with the exiled felon Orochimaru to poison Hokage Tsunade and seize control of Konoha.

The Konoha 12 were some of the first nin on the front lines. The people they were fighting were vicious and blood thirsty. Most of the Sound-Nin didn’t even seem human anymore. There were extra limbs and horns and even wings on the opposing army. And no matter how much the Konoha-Suna alliance fought and danced and killed, more enemies came.

And then, laughter. Sounding like it was on the edge of hysteria and pain and euphoria all at the same time.

The man seemed to appear from nowhere. He was exceedingly fast and seemingly murdered without care for what hitai-ate was on display.

He was followed by a handful of other, stranger looking nin who all wore matching cloaks of black with red cloud markings. One of which was awfully familiar to a member of the Konoha 12.

While the Uchiha brothers were meeting on one end of the battlefield surrounded by Naruto and Sakura, Hinata came face to face with the laughing whirlwind of violence.

“Well lookie here! Damn, looks like I found my bitch after all. I was starting to think you didn’t fucking exist outside of these puny shitty grey marks you left me. Turns out, you’re just wrapped up so fucking tight you must not get out much. Seriously. What the fuck are you? A fucking nun?”

 

Hinata never did manage to break the speed record she set that day for beating the man unconscious with her Gentle Fist techniques.


	2. Tale as Old as Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shisui was pretty pumped to have his turtle companions pop up every time he approached a body of water. But he was really hoping the body of his soulmate would pop up one of these days instead...
> 
> And preferably with a dick.

Shisui had spent the majority of his childhood with the knowledge that he didn’t have a soulmate.

He’d witnessed other Uchiha clan members being followed around by all sorts of animals, but so far – Shisui didn’t have any animal companions. Unless it was like a tiny microscopic bug perhaps? That could _maybe_ explain it? But even the Aburame’s soulmates were followed around by very visible kikaichu bugs. And he couldn’t really think of any other person who would be represented by a bug…

But then came the day. It seemed like any other as he’d just been practicing his Grand Fireball Technique over by the Uchiha’s lake pier when he’d been startled by the bushes rustling and had fallen in.

“Shisui… I think you just found your soulmate's representatives.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Itachi. It’s not like I didn’t notice the extreme amount of turtles or anything…”

Shisui was completely surrounded by a large assortment of said aquatic animals. They came in all shapes and sizes and were currently holding him just above the surface of the water.

“I assume they must be water dependent and cannot follow you onto land.”

“Yeah. Again, thanks Itachi. What on earth I would do without your intellect I do not know. I would be completely lost and unable to see and notice my surroundings. Why I might not even be a ninja!”

“Sarcasm is not very polite, Shisui.”

Shisui just sighed and laid back onto his floating turtle bed. _One day_ , he promised, _I’ll get Itachi to pull that giant stick out of his ass and act like an **actual** child_ …

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Shisui continued to age and train and got used to having his turtle companions magically appear every time he set foot near water.

“It’s actually kind of cool, right? I mean, I can keep it a secret and then use it as a kick ass surprise whenever we’re fighting near water, right Captain?”

Kakashi, or Hound as it were, just sighed and almost regretted taking on his newest team member. The kid would not stop talking. Besides, it’s not like they were _battle_ turtles or anything. What the hell kind of 'kick ass surprise' was Crow hoping for? An enemy nin to be allergic to touching turtle shells?

“Uhm, are you sure they’re not representing Might Gai?” Hound wanted to backhand his previously favorite subordinate Tenzou or Cat. No one brought up Gai around Hound. It was practically in the ANBU handbook at this point.

“Gai? No, I totally checked that out like the first week I discovered these cute guys! He’s totally followed around by these tiny dogs called pugs. Like a whole pack of them! It’s awesome! They’re totally down for cuddles and everything. Best animal companion ever!”

Cat just gulped and rapidly took a few steps away from Hound. Hound took a deep breath and mentally noted to put Shisui, AKA Crow, on latrine duty ASAP. And to talk to Gai. Why the hell is he letting random nin pet his pugs? Those were Hound’s pugs, damn it!

“Let’s just start the mission, okay? And… don’t touch other people’s animal companions. It’s rude. Move out.”

Cat immediately jumped up to the trees to follow Hound’s command and Crow pretended not to notice the tiny tortoise strapped to Hound’s back. Hound just kept darting through the trees and expanded his mental note. _Make sure to kick Tenzou’s ass on the sparring field as soon as we return. Also, make sure Shisui witnesses it and learns to keep his fucking mouth shut about my tortoises._

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

By the time Shisui was twenty he had realized his soulmate was not of Konoha.

“I mean, I’d have found him by now right? Or her? I guess it could be a girl. But I hope it's a dude. I’m a little more into dick, ya know?”

Hound resisted the urge to punch Crow in the back of the head. Just take deep breaths. In and out. In and out. This too shall pass.

“Crow you should not talk about such things. It is unseemly.”

“Oh, shut up ‘Tachi. Oops, I mean ‘Weasel’. You’re just butthurt cause your soulmate is represented by a giant cow.”

“Now now children. Let’s not fight. Save it for the bad guys, okay?” Cat’s sense of humor was going to get him pummeled someday. Hound was gleefully waiting for that day. Weasel did not take kindly to age jokes and Hound had bets going for when Weasel would finally lose his shit and light Cat on fire. That punk deserves it. He’d actually made Hound pay for his own meal the other day. The utter nerve!

“Shh, we’re approaching Mizu’s border now.” Hound was legitimately surprised to hear Crow whisper. He didn’t think the other male even knew how to control his volume. He seemed to be permanently set to ‘extremely high-pitched annoyance’. Maybe that was just Hound's opinion though…

The four masked nin ran across the waves and ignored Shisui’s turtles racing below the surf. They just needed to make the next island and wait for nightfall before beginning their approach into Kirigakure.

“Hold!” Hound called a halt to their run as an extremely dense and evil feeling chakra signature bloomed directly ahead of them. The turtles continued to race faster and faster beneath Crow’s position.

And then _actual_ crows appeared in the sky. They darted and twisted and began to land on Crow.

“Uh… these aren’t my summons. Is this normal? Did one of you guys leave bird seed in my pack again? That wasn’t a good enough prank for a repeat, seriously.”

“Shut up Crow!” Hound had a lot of regrets in his relatively short life. And accepting these members as his ANBU team was moving up the list practically every time Crow opened his mouth.

And then a man appeared in the mist. Or potentially a child. A small male human one might say. Hound was definitely getting better at describing people in a less rude way. Gai was going to be so proud when he shared this story later.

“How unfortunate. I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to kill my soulmate… but it appears that you are a member of Konoha’s ANBU and you are currently trespassing on my lands.”

Well the voice was certainly deep enough to be a man rather than a child. Wait. Hold up. Did he say soulmate?

“You’re the turtle man! Yes! I knew you’d have a dick! Suck on that Weasel-face! Have fun with your silly cow.” Shisui practically danced towards the enemy.

“Crow! You stupid bastard! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Well at least Hound could always count on Cat to rain on Crow’s parade. Even if he did sound a bit like a jealous child while doing it…

“Really? I literally just told you I was going to murder you and you’re trying to embrace me? Are you an idiot?”

“Nope! My name’s Shisui! And I hope you love food! Cause I’ve been planning our first date since I was 8 and met your turtles! I am **so** happy I found you!”

“Yagura. I would say I’m charmed. But I’m clearly not.”

“That’s okay! You’ll warm up to me!”

Hound made another mental note. _Request team transfer immediately. Crow is defective and needs to be retired. Permanently. Also, put him on latrine duty. Again._


	3. Dairy Tail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When traveling alone, one should always be on their guard for surprise soulmate attacks.

Once upon a time, there was a Village Hidden in the Leaves. It was officially named Konohagakure but as that was quite a mouthful and people are inherently prone to cutting corners, it became commonly known as simply Konoha.

In the village of Konoha, which probably shouldn’t be termed a village in all actuality as it contained such a large number of citizens that it should really be more of a town at the very least, there lived a large clan of fire breathers known as the Uchiha family. 

For generations the Uchiha had birthed and trained fierce warriors who could breathe and eat fire, and some claimed that they even lived inside fires themselves. They’d originally been a nomadic tribe who had wandered through the aptly named “Fire Country”. A few generations before this story takes place, however, they had formed an alliance with the plant-growing Senju clan and helped to form Konoha.

You would think that the Uchiha clan would have been very proud to be one of the two founders of Konoha. And they were. But they were even more proud of their clan’s achievements. Specifically, the achievements of the **best** fire breather Madara Uchiha, who’d actually ended up serving as the second leader, or Hokage in the common dialect, of Konoha.

Madara was widely considered to be the best fire breather, the most intelligent and attractive Uchiha, and even the most virile of males the Uchiha clan had ever had the honor of birthing. He was also extremely well known and prized for his skills of espionage and stealth.

And then came Itachi, who is the center of our story being told here today.

Many citizens of Konoha thought of Itachi as being very intelligent and he was quickly becoming one of the best fire breathers in the whole town. But whereas Madara had no soulmate, and therefore nothing to hold him back, Itachi had a cow.

Not just any cow to be precise. It was a male cow of the Gir breed. Itachi had taken the time to look through all 362 volumes of the “Bovine Encyclopedia” set at the local library to make sure he had the correct terminology and information. He was, at this time, 99.7% sure he had the correct breed identified. His cousin Shisui had laughed hysterically at him for taking the time to do so, but considering Shisui could barely tell the difference between turtles and tortoises, Itachi didn’t think his opinion meant very much at all. Besides, Itachi’s younger brother Sasuke seemed to enjoy learning about cow facts while sitting on Gir-chan’s back. And anything that made Sasuke happy was considered to be a very noble thing indeed to Itachi.

Regardless of how much information Itachi read and collected regarding Gir cattle though, he was still unable to become a true master of stealth and espionage. After all, it’s quite difficult to break into an enemy stronghold with your soul companion merrily mooing down below. No matter how much Itachi trained and practiced, he would never surpass his great-great-great-grand-uncle Madara.

Shisui also found this to be hilarious. He took great joy in pointing out any and all areas of battle that he was better at than Itachi. After all, Shisui’s turtle companions only appeared around bodies of water and therefore he could stealth around all he liked.

And no, Itachi was not _jealous_. He just happened to take extra care in becoming the most elite water walker and fighter in the Uchiha clan for completely unconnected reasons of course.

One thing Itachi did not do however, was try to find his soulmate. He knew that they must be out there somewhere and would most likely showcase some of the more commonly known traits of cows (docile, easy going, friendly, and - for Girs especially - very talkative, as Itachi’s cow would simply not stop mooing unless it was asleep).

But Itachi liked to put his trust in fate. His soulmate would arrive precisely when they were meant to.

Time continued to pass and Itachi continued to grow and learn more and more facts about cows. He was actually becoming almost as well-known for his bovine knowledge as he was for his fighting skills. Unless you were around his father Fugaku of course. In that case- one should only discuss Itachi’s martial skills and completely pretend that they’d never even heard of a cow before. Fugaku was well known for having a vast well of pride in his eldest son’s battle prowess and for having an extremely small amount of patience for anything remotely related to such stupid animals as _bovines_.

Due to his so-called ‘battle prowess’, Itachi swiftly moved up the ranks of ninja-hood and was soon a jounin and a top-ranked member of ANBU. At this very moment in our story, he had just successfully completed his 35th S-Rank solo-mission and was returning to the village to celebrate his upcoming 19th birthday when his cow-panion began acting very strangely.

Itachi watched as Gir-chan stomped and turned away from Konoha’s gates. He didn’t even stop when Itachi called after him. The cow just continued his merry mooing and walking away from Itachi. This had never happened before. What on earth could this mean? Is Gir-chan broken?

Itachi decided to follow Gir-chan. He was his most precious cow-panion after all and had been with Itachi since just after his birth. It would be a shame to lose him now.

Gir led Itachi for miles and miles. He walked to the left and he walked to the right. He sometimes even walked in circles. All the while, Itachi continued to mentally go through all of his vast bovine-based knowledge. Cows don’t migrate… but what else could Gir be doing besides leading Itachi on a wild goose chase?

Eventually Gir broke through the forest into a clearing and just simply sat and stared into the sunset. 

Itachi decided he would give Gir this one night before trying to guide him back home. He was after all, still reviewing his mental information banks and would not give up this puzzle so quickly.

Only a few hours had passed when Itachi began to hear noises. It was a team of Konoha shinobi approaching! They appeared to spot Itachi and Gir, after all it is rather hard to miss such a large cow sitting in a clearing, and quickly jumped down from the trees to face the duo.

It was then that Gir chose to move again. He approached one of the male nins and promptly nudged him in the back of the knee until he fell and Gir then proceeded to sit on him.

“Well, not that I don’t just love cows and all, but would someone mind helping me here? Guys? Teammates? Buddies?”

Itachi had never seen Gir-chan be so ferocious before! And who was the bandana clad male Gir was sitting on?

Just then, a red crowned crane appeared in front of Itachi. It paused to cock its head for a moment, as if it was thinking quite deeply and then sat in his lap.

“Oh, hey Genma! You found your soulmate! Too bad it’s that weird prodigy cow kid... They say he’s almost as good at the Uchiha fire techniques as he is milking techniques.”

Itachi felt like an idiot. He’d spent all this time trying to solve the puzzle using his cow knowledge when he really should have thought about the soulmate side of things. One thing was for sure, he was **never** telling Shisui this story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I blame CannibalisticApple for this one. They just had to ask about the cow thing, and then I started researching cow-symbolism and then I got into tropes... and next thing you know I'm throwing this down.
> 
> I actually took the time to choose animals/characteristics that meant something rather than the last chapter which was based off of their summons or their sealed chakra beast.
> 
> For Itachi, I chose the Red Crown Crane. They're known for their majesty, grace, and strength without aggression which I thought fit Itachi and his (supposed) pacifism quite well.
> 
> Then came The Cow. I admitted that I had no idea who the hell The Cow actually represented... It just sounded really amusing to me when I was writing Shisui's story that it ended up in there. I decided upon the following characteristics for The Cow: friendly, kind, even-natured, calm, bit of a mother hen type, productive, and gregarious.
> 
> And then I stumbled upon Genma... Who I felt personified The Cow rather well.


	4. Flowers for My Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The language of flowers is often used when sending bouquets to your loved ones or in condolences, but Sakura, unfortunately, gets to live with hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is mostly canon-esque... except for the parts that are clearly not. They should be fairly obvious *coughAkatsukicough*

No one was sure when the flowers had started to appear on humans or what caused the phenomenon to occur, but they did eventually come to realize that the flowers represented your other half. Your soulmate. The flower markings appeared on your skin presumably when you were both alive and beginning to develop a personality. Sometimes the flowers took years to show but other times people were seemingly sprouting whole bouquets by the time they were learning to walk. At times the flowers were static and seemingly permanent, and at others the flowers shifted almost daily. People theorized that the flowers reflected your soulmate’s personality and desires – so for someone to have a static one for years, it just meant that your soulmate was either stubborn or unchanging.

Sakura spent most of her time wishing her soulmate would change. Her flower was _awful_. The flower, or should she say her _soulmate’s_ flower, was an orange lily on the inside of Sakura’s right forearm.

Her classmate Naruto thought that it was “amazing, dattebayo!”, but he seemed to think that of everything orange. And since he was a male, he’d never had to study Hanakotoba, or the language of flowers.

Sakura wished no one studied Hanakotoba. Then she wouldn’t have to listen to all the other girls talking behind her back about her soulmate being represented by a flower meaning ‘hatred’ and ‘revenge’. Really, she understood why it stood out. Not only was it in an easily viewable place, but it was also extremely brightly colored. Sakura’s mother theorized that this just meant her soulmate had a strong personality. Sakura theorized that it meant they were an asshole.

Her best friend Ino also had a lily – but hers was white and stood for ‘purity’. The girls had bonded due to their matching flowers when they’d first met at four years old on the playground, but now Ino tended to lord over Sakura with her more “prestigious” flower. Sakura thought she was being a right bitch about the whole thing and was now spending half of her time wishing Ino’s flower would change to anything other than a stupid lily.

But then about a year before graduation, Ino’s flower shifted into an aster for ‘remembrance’. Ino just used this to further justify her pursuit of Sasuke – after all, he must deeply remember his family, right?

Sakura’s flower remained an orange lily blossom. She was beginning to think her soulmate probably had a matching one on their skin as well.

 

~~~~~~~~~

The years passed, and Sakura watched as the flowers around her changed.

Kakashi-sensei never seemed to have any flowers, but he did cover about 95% of his skin so who really knew what his was doing? Or if he even had one.

And Sasuke had left the village years ago – so no one knew if his pretty zinnia for loyalty was still the same.

Naruto’s small red spider lily of abandonment had changed to a desperate primrose shortly after Sasuke’s defection and before Naruto had left to travel with Jiraiya. It had simply continued to grow from one blossom to seven and at eighteen years, now covered a good portion of his lower back in blooms. Sakura would make more jokes about it being a ‘tramp stamp’ but generally managed to contain them unless she was laughing over it with Tsunade and a few jugs of sake.

Ino’s aster had been joined by a yellow camellia of ‘longing’. It was either super romantic or super sad depending on what kind of mood she was in.

But Sakura’s? Oh, the orange lily was still there, and in fact it had grown even bigger and now covered most of her lower arm. But in between two of its petals was a tiny blue hydrangea for ‘pride’. Sakura’s soulmate was an asshole for sure. The only thing missing, in her mind, was a bright yellow narcissus to really tie the whole ‘self-absorbed, revenge-craving, overly self-confident’ package together. Instead of wishing that her soulmate flower would change, she now just wished to never meet her soulmate at all. She’d had enough dealings with a person who fit her flowers’ profile, and she was just glad that Sasuke turned out to not be her soulmate after all. She just didn't have the patience for that kind of shit.

 

~~~~~~~~~

Sasori **_despised_** his flowers. First, he’d spent a few decades of his life without any markings and had been content. Some might even say, ‘enthusiastically’ content – if one could interpret Sasori’s blank face and lack of emotion as enthusiasm anyways.

But then he’d woken up one day to discover a tiny amaryllis blossom on his left arm. What. The. Fuck. He was a _puppet_. Why the fuck were there flowers on him?

After conducting numerous experiments – by which, he turned even more shinobi (and even a few civilians… just for sampling sake) into humanoid puppets – Sasori discovered that the flowers remained on the skin. They stopped changing once the person was dead – but they didn’t disappear. Sasori took this to mean that since his soul, essentially, was still ‘alive’ (theoretically anyways), that meant his flowers were here to stay. And that he did, in fact, have a soulmate out there somewhere. And that, apparently, they were representing ‘shyness’. Sasori momentarily wondered if he should finally take one of Tobi’s pieces of advice and read up on ‘karma’.

After roughly a decade of having the pathetic amaryllis linger, it turned into a brilliant orange lily. Sasori wistfully began to consider that maybe having a soulmate wouldn’t be that bad.

But that only lasted a year or two. Now he was stuck with a morning glory. And it was growing. Constantly. Every time he looked down it seemed to be bigger. What the hell kind of promises was this brat obsessing over?

And now – after eighteen years of dealing with these terrible flowers, Sasori had peonies for ‘bravery’ on his arm. A whole batch of the damn things. There were  _ten_ of them scattered all over his arm and he was getting irritated by Deidara’s laughter. As if the bastard wasn’t covered with red ‘fun-loving’ poppies all over his ribs. Sasori couldn’t wait to meet the brat’s other-half. And murder them as quickly as possible. Sage only knows what the hell kind of idiocy a bomber and a ‘fun lover’ could get into.

Sasori began to spend some of his nighttime meditation hoping his soulmate would bravely wander onto the edge of a poisoned blade and rid the world of their presence. But then he realized that would mean the peonies would be forever frozen on his arm. Damn it.

 

~~~~~~~~~

By the time Sakura was twenty, her lily and hydrangea had been joined by a small branch of erica flowers. Great. Now her soulmate was into ‘solitude’. That probably wouldn’t help their attitude much.

Sakura usually tried to just ignore her right arm entirely, but since it was currently sticking through a grass-nin’s chest, she couldn’t help but think about flower meanings and what the hell her soulmate was doing now.

Sakura let the lightning chakra around her fist die out and released the heart she had previously been clenching in her fist. She was definitely going to rub this in Sasuke’s face. That loser had bet she could never properly use the chidori with her ‘pathetic’ chakra reserves. Sakura almost wished she could perform the technique on her rude teammate without actually murdering him. Yes, that would prove her point rather nicely. But alas, she’d just have to hope he’d watched her decimate this grass-nin instead.

But as she turned around to locate her quiet teammate (she already knew her other teammate, Naruto, was approximately twenty feet to her left as he never _stopped talking_ ), she noticed a red haired stoic faced male staring her down.

“Uh, can I help you or something?” Sakura began to retighten her gloves in case this got messy. And purposefully avoided looking down at her right arm as she could feel the flowers wiggling and growing in the presence of the red head.

“Hey danna! Looks like your soulmate just gave you a poppy! Now we match, yeah? Just like, yours is yellow. That’s just sad, yeah. And why’s it moving?” And now there was a blonde standing by the red haired one. And why the hell did he kind of look like Ino? Sakura began contemplating how she could best word her request for an apparently much-needed vacation, as she was clearly losing her mind.

“Shut up Deidara. I just found miss ‘ _success_ ’ poppy herself and I need you to go away. **Now**.” The red head disdainfully growled the words out. Sakura would almost think he was attractive except he was clearly a puppeteer and she was more into physical strength in her opponents. Or her sexual partners. Or her _soulmate_. Whatever. Potato, po-tah-toe, asshole.

“ **You**. You need to stop causing these **fucking** flowers to pop up. They’re all over my damn arm and it’s **disgusting**.”

Sakura cocked her head to the side and considered just how far she could punch this asshole. Considering his body mass, she was pretty sure he’d make it to at least the far tree line. That’d probably be far enough that she wouldn’t have to listen to his bullshit anymore. If she was lucky, he might even break his neck. And wouldn’t that just be a shame.

“Brat, are you even listening? You, **unfortunately** , are my soulmate. And I’m quite disappointed.”

“Huh, you really are an asshole, aren’t you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used Wikipedia's article on Hanakotoba for this, rather shamelessly really #SorryNotSorry. I tried to pick flower meanings that suited the person at that time.
> 
> In case you're wondering, secondary pairings are as follows:  
> \- Ino/Sai (who actually does have a narcissus flower for a number of years)  
> \- Naruto/Sasuke  
> \- Deidara/Suigetsu (yeah... not sure what the hell's going on there either, but it just came to me *shrugs*)


	5. Hope Springs Eternal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shino knew that he was supposedly 'incomplete' without his soulmate. But he will not let that stop him from living.

Everyone knew the process. As soon as you settled into yourself, settled into your _skin_ , and truly loved who you were – the name of your supposed soulmate, your other half, the one who matched you in every way; well that name would appear on your body somewhere. It would almost be like a tattoo, except if you cut it off, it simply regrew somewhere else. Everyone knew you were never _really_ free of your soulmate. Even if they died, the name would remain. But it would blacken and create a scar upon your skin. As if to ensure you never forgot that you would forever be missing something. As if to remind you that you would never be _whole_.

 

 

Shino had been raised to honor even just the mere concept of his soulmate and to prepare to meet that future. For the Aburame clan especially, soulmates were important. Not everyone was equipped to love and accept the fact that bugs lived within their bodies and that they were covered in tiny openings for the bugs to creep and crawl through. The Aburame idolized their soulmates for, with them, they were almost guaranteed acceptance. Soulmates gave them hope for the future. The future of their clan and their hives. So Shino was prepared to accept and love his soulmate in return.

 

 

The day the name of his match appeared, Shino had just completed the process of gaining a new hive and adapting his body to host kochῡ insects – ones who produced a poison that caused paralysis. He planned on using these for his second try at the Chῡnin exams and was optimistic at his chances of success.

Shino had just planned on finishing his day by meditating in the clan’s garden as usual, when he felt an itching sensation on his calf. The insects within him roiled to the surface as his irritation grew. Just when he felt the itching had crescendoed into actual pain, it stopped. Curious, Shino began unwinding his many layers of bandages.

In a curling hand, red lettering read: _Haruno Sakura_.

Immediately, he knew he was destined to be alone for quite some time to come. Everyone knew that Sakura was still obsessed with Sasuke and had been for years, even after his desertion. Shino would allow himself just this one moment of weakness before beginning to tuck all of his thoughts and feelings back into the abyss.

“Fuck.”

Shino decided to end without meditation that day.

 

 

Years passed and conflicts came and went. Shino continued to work on adapting his body to host as many different kinds of insects as possible, and to discover and study new species whenever he could.

He’d gained a field promotion to Jōnin during the Fourth Shinobi World War and was pleased at his level of personal success. Shino had worked at the Academy for a time but was currently on hiatus to expand work on his personal research projects.

His soulmate mark still read _Haruno Sakura,_ but it was now located on his ribcage after a particularly nasty trap had skinned his entire leg a few years previously.

By this point, Sakura had actually married Sasuke and birthed a daughter named Sarada. Shino believed the girl was about three years old by now, or thereabouts. He tried to keep his distance and remained informed only because of Kiba’s loud mouth during team meetups.

No matter how many times he was questioned on who his soulmate was, Shino had yet to tell anyone. And due to his extreme compartmentalization, even he did not know how he felt about the situation. The few times Kiba had really pressed for information, Shino had flatly responded that his soulmate had not settled yet. They needed to find their true selves, and he was content to wait until then. He did not feel comfortable even pursuing a deeper connection than their current level of semi-friendly acquaintances due to the soulmate knowledge. If he knew and she did not, that made him feel dirty. Like he was lying to and manipulating her. He reserved those techniques for the enemy only. Certainly not his soulmate.

So he continued to live and explore the world of insects further and further. Soulmate or not, he would be whole.

 

 

The news of Sakura’s divorce had spread quickly. After all, it wasn’t every day that one saw the Uchiha male being escorted to the village gates by the Hokage as Sasuke appeared unable to walk unassisted.

“Damn, Sakura must have punched the shit out of him! Look how he’s walking! Poor fuck. He really shoulda known better though, ya know? Like what fucking idiot tells their wife, who they’ve ditched for years, that they should stop working and just stay at home with their kid? Like that’s all women are good for. What a moron.” Kiba’s glib observations were heard just before his arm slapped across Shino’s shoulders. “Should we invite the lady out for drinks, eh? If we can get Hinata to watch the little one, I bet Sakura’d be down for it. She’s always good for sake!”

“Perhaps we should arrange an outing with all of our teams instead. That would seem to be more comfortable.”

“Spoil sport.”

 

 

A year passed. Shino was currently studying a cocoon hanging from one of his house’s windowsills. How curious, this one almost looked like it could be an _Actias luna_ moth but that was highly unusual for this latitude and season. Well with patience would come answers. He finished measuring the length and width, and was writing down his observations when a knock was heard.

Not expecting any visitors, he finished the sentence he was writing before capping his fountain pen and proceeding to the front door.

“Oh. Sakura-san, good morning. And Sarada-chan as well.”

“Shino! I’m so sorry I took so long! I thought forever I just didn’t have a soulmate and then I guess, I finally realized when I kicked Sasuke out that I wasn’t really being true to myself. I had just become trapped in this cycle and was being too stubborn to realize that he wasn’t good for me. And a few months back, your name showed up! Please, please tell me you match!”

“I believe you should come in for tea. You look stressed.”

 

Hours later, as Shino watched Sakura exclaim over the number of hives and identify an impressive amount of the insect species in his garden to Sarada, he felt cautiously optimistic about the future.

He may have already been whole, but he could always use more companions. Especially human ones.


End file.
